Frankfurt. The international network of regional institutions that support nanotechnology companies will be expanded further after the successful completion of its EU-funded phase. This is the message which the NANORA (Nano Regions Alliance) conveyed with its two-day conference on nanotechnology held during the chemistry trade fair ACHEMA at Frankfurt on the 17th and 18th of June.
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Frankfurt. The international network of regional institutions that support nanotechnology companies will be expanded further after the successful completion of its EU-funded phase. This is the message which the NANORA (Nano Regions Alliance) conveyed with its two-day conference on nanotechnology held during the chemistry trade fair ACHEMA at Frankfurt on the 17th and 18th of June.
Read more

Frankfurt. The international network of regional institutions that support nanotechnology companies will be expanded further after the successful completion of its EU-funded phase. This is the message which the NANORA (Nano Regions Alliance) conveyed with its two-day conference on nanotechnology held during the chemistry trade fair ACHEMA at Frankfurt on the 17th and 18th of June.
Read more

What is NANORA?

NANORA – Nano Regions Alliance is a transnational cooperation network of strong European nanotechnology regions. Its members are regional or national organisations – clusters, technology transfer and business development agencies, industry associations, research and technology centres and the like – that are active in supporting nanotechnology research and business activities by implementing regional support programmes and offering services to small and medium companies and/or research institutions. Having started out as a funded INTERREG project (2011-2015) under the lead of the Hessen Ministry of Economics NANORA now, as of mid-2016, counts 17 Members from Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden. As of early 2016 high-ranking political decision-makers from several involved regions (Wallonie, BE; Hessen, DE; Saarland, DE; Nord-Pas de Calais, FR; Ireland; North-West England) have pledged their support to the network and its objectives, making support to nanotechnology SMEs a political priority.

What does NANORA want?

The network members’ joint aim is to improve support to their regional companies by facilitating cooperation with transnational partners from across Europe along nano-enabled value chains. Ultimately, this is designed to enable increased industrial adoption of nanotechnology in the participating regions. Like the Three Musketeers NANORA Members operate according to the motto “All for one, one for all” as they are convinced that European regions can only stand out in international competition as top locations through joint action. Regional selfishness is obsolete – regional perspectives must be complemented with a European perspective. NANORA representatives also maintain close ties beyond the network, being regularly invited as experts to activities by the European Commission in the area of Advanced Materials and Nanotechnologies.

What good does this do?

This shift in perspective has borne fruit: over the course of the NANORA project runtime the partnership, combining their expertise to offer a range of expert workshops, masterclasses, company missions and general “smart brokering” activities, supported roughly 230 companies and research entities across North-West Europe and beyond by matching them for roughly 60 collaborative projects of all sorts and guiding them in the collaborative process. By fostering and supporting these collaborative projects NANORA helped generate roughly 22 m € worth of approved projects and 88 m € worth of submitted projects funded by or applied for at Horizon 2020, CORNET, Interreg, ECSEL, and various regional and national programmes.

How does NANORA work?

For tailor-made support to nanotechnology SMEs and research organisations NANORA relies on a strong network of “NANORA Access Points” in the participating regions. They act as gateways to the regions’ nanotechnology landscapes and are able to quickly connect nanotechnology-based companies (and researchers) as well as industry users across Europe. In addition to regional networks and resources NANORA makes use of its very own tool TINCA (Transnational Interactive Nanotechnology Competence Atlas), a living transnational database of about 600 European nanotechnology companies and research organizations with sophisticated filtering options that allows for searching just the right nano-related expertise across seven regions. With the continuous expansion of the NANORA network additional regional gateways are built, which further multiplies the options NANORA Members can identify for their companies through their “smart brokering” activities.

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Funded by Interreg IVB

INTERREG IVb NWE is a financial instrument of the European Union's Cohesion Policy. It funds projects which support transnational cooperation. The aim is to find innovative ways to make the most of territorial assets and tackle shared problems of Member States, regions and other authorities.